STRIDERS COME UP SHORT

"We was robbed!" cried Dave Berardi, moments after the announcement of team results for the annual Brighton Dam 7-Mile Challenge Race.

His shock was understandable: The Howard County Striders had put sixrunners in the top 10 against the Montgomery County Road Runners, but missed victory by 269 points.

Montgomery County still had the winning low score with 1,989 points, while the Striders had 2,257.

From Berardi's point of view, Howard County seemed in firm control of the race. Running for the Striders, Berardi overtook Montgomery's top runner, Dominuque Da Luz, on asteep hill at the 3 1/2-mile turnaround point.

Da Luz challenged for the lead again at the 4-mile mark, but Berardi maintained his lead on the mile-long incline between miles five and six and cruised to a solid win in 37:27.

Meanwhile, the Striders' summer series winner, Gary Anderson, chased down Montgomery's Steve Smith for third place (38:22).

Junior Strider coach Craig Chasse ran alongside Chris Nugent for most of the race and the two placed sixth (39:12) and seventh (39:13) respectively for Howard County.

The Striders showed great speed up front but lacked a sufficient number of middle-of-the-pace runners and lost the Brighton Dam race for the fourth consecutive year.

About 200 runners from Howard and Montgomery counties participated.

The annual Brighton Dam race, run on the first Sunday in September, pits runners from Howard and Montgomery against each other and the hilly road between Brighton Dam and Brookeville

The Striders begin their fall series of races and fun runs at 2 p.m. Sunday at Thunder Hill Elementary School in Columbia.

For more information, contact Paul Goldenberg (730-3566) or Feet First (992-5800).